Warm-Up Bat

ABSTRACT

A warm-up bat with a handle, a tube fixed to one end of the handle and defining an internal cavity, a volume of flowable material in the cavity, and a mechanical assembly located in the cavity and adapted to maintain the material in the cavity.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Provisional application Ser. No. 60/717,813 filed on Sep. 16, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a warm-up bat for sports training.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Warm-up bats can be used to help increase bat speed and batting average by working the muscle groups involved in swinging a bat. It has been found that with the warm-up bat disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,816, the flowable bat weighting material can shift slightly within the bat over time as the bat is swung. This creates an unnatural feel which affects the bat's performance, and can make the bat less useful over time. As the benefits of a warm-up bat are maintained only if the bat is used frequently, it is important to provide a bat with a natural feel that will be used over an extended period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention comprises a warm-up bat that improves the warm-up bat disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,816, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The invention features a warm-up bat with a handle, a tube fixed to one end of the handle and defining an internal cavity, a volume of flowable material in the cavity, and a mechanical assembly located in the cavity and adapted to maintain the material in the cavity, the mechanical assembly comprising a compressed resilient member. The handle may be the handle of a bat with a portion of the barrel cut off. The tube may be a hollow cylinder, in which an inside diameter of the tube is slightly greater than an outside diameter of the handle. The tube may partially overlap the handle and be secured to the handle. The tube can be made of plastic. The tube may be open at both ends. The overlapping handle portion may close one end of the tube.

The flowable material is preferably in the tube adjacent to the handle. The mechanical assembly may further comprise a compressible member. The compressible member may be located within the tube adjacent to the flowable material. The compressible member may comprise a plastic foam disk. The compressible member may be generally cylindrical. The cylinder may be slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube.

The mechanical assembly may further comprise a filler member between the compressible member and the resilient member. The filler member may comprise a solid plug that is slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube. The solid plug may be made of wood.

The mechanical assembly may further comprise a closure member to close the end of the tube farthest from the handle. The closure member may comprise a solid plug that is slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube. The closure member may be held in place in the tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawing, which is a partial cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the warm-up bat of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment of bat 10 according to this invention is shown in the enclosed drawing, which is a partial cross-sectional view of warm-up bat 10 of the invention. Bat 10 comprises handle 12 which is essentially a normal baseball or softball bat, but cut off to a desired length. In the embodiment described herein, handle 12 is from a 29″ bat. Handle 12 is cut off so as to remove most or all of the barrel, in one example such that its length is about 19 ½″. Tube 14 is preferably a uniform plastic tube open at both ends, and may be made from a polycarbonate material. In the embodiment, tube 14 has an inside diameter that is essentially the same as the outside diameter of the distal portion of bat handle 12. Tube 14 also has a desired length, in this instance about 15″ to make a bat that has a total length of about 29″ so as to mimic the actual bat from which the handle was recovered. One end of tube 14 is paced over the cutoff end of handle 12, and pins 13 (which may be screws or pins or dowels, for example) are used to affix tube 14 to bat handle 12.

The inventive warm-up bat is given a desired total weight (typically anywhere from 35-120 ounces, but that is not a limitation of the invention) by adding an appropriate amount of sand, metallic grit or other flowable material (preferably a granular material) 16 into the cavity defined by tube 14. The flowable material is preferably located adjacent the handle.

Material 16 is maintained in place with a mechanical assembly located in the cavity adjacent material 16. In the disclosed embodiment, the mechanical assembly includes compressible plastic foam disk 18 that may have a diameter of just slightly greater than the inside diameter of tube 14 so that it effectively prevents grit 16 from escaping in the area between disk 18 and the inside of tube 14. Disk 18 is preferably made of ETHAFOAM® brand polyethylene foam from The Dow Chemical Company. Solid plug 20, which may be made of wood or plastic, for example, is seated against disk 18. This plug preferably has a diameter slightly less than the inside diameter of tube 14 so that it can be slid into the cavity during assembly. The length of plug 20 is variable depending on the overall length of the cavity within tube 14, and the volume of grit 16, but is typically in the range of three to five inches long.

The next portion of the mechanical assembly is spring or other resilient member 22, which is preferably, again, just smaller in diameter than the inside diameter of tube 14, so that it can be slid into the tube during assembly. Resilient member 22 is preferably about two inches long in its relaxed state, and typically is a metal spring that is compressed to about ½″ long during assembly. Member 22 provides a compression force that urges plug 20 against disk 18, to thereby maintain grit 16 in compression. In this embodiment, the spring compression force is in the range of 30 to 50 pounds, although such is not a limitation of the invention.

The last piece of the mechanical assembly is another plug 24 that is fixed in place to close the open end of tube 14 using pins 25. Plug 24 may be made of plastic or wood, and may be about two inches long, although nether this size or the material is a limitation of the invention.

The sizes of the different components of the mechanical assembly are preferably chosen such that the end of plug 24 is flush with the end of tube 14.

The result of the mechanical assembly is that spring 22 through block 20 continuously urges disk 18 against grit 16 so that as disk 18 compresses over time, and/or as small voids in grit 16 compress over time, the reduction in volume of grit 16 and disk 18 in combination is taken up by the movement of plug 20 caused by the force applied by compressed spring 22. The bat thus maintains a solid feel. In other words, the grit does not move as the bat is swung, unlike in the prior patent referred to above, regardless of any small volume reductions in grit 16 and/or disk 18.

Use of the subject invention has resulted in increased bat speed (improvements of 50-60% or more) and increased batting average (increases of hundreds of points). Table 1 below provides examples of actual bat speed data (in miles per hour as measured by a radar gun) taken from three high-school baseball players undergoing a bat speed improvement program. The program consisted of the following:

A. In weeks 1-12, follow this routine twice per week:

-   -   1. 29″, 35 oz. inventive weighted bat—16 one-hand soft toss         swings     -   2. Normal hitting bat—16 soft toss swings     -   3. 32″, 55 oz. inventive weighted bat—16 soft toss swings     -   4. Normal hitting bat—16 soft toss swings     -   5. 34″, 65 oz. inventive weighted bat—16 soft toss swings

B. In weeks 13-16, follow this routine twice per week:

-   -   1. 29″, 35 oz. inventive weighted bat—16 one-hand soft toss         swings     -   2. 32″, 55 oz. inventive weighted bat—16 soft toss swings     -   3. Normal hitting bat—16 soft toss swings     -   4. 34″, 65 oz. inventive weighted bat—16 soft toss swings     -   5. Normal hitting bat—16 soft toss swings     -   6. 35″, 80 oz. inventive weighted bat—16 soft toss swings

C. In weeks 17-20, follow the weeks 13-16 routine, but four times per week, but use this progression of inventive weighted bats: 34″, 65 oz., 35″, 80 oz., 35″, 100 oz.

D. During the whole program, swing a medium-weight inventive bat 100 times per day. TABLE 1 Results Week Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 0 61 63 65 1 65 66 69 2 71 70 73 3 81 76 75 4 82 79 78 5 83 81 80 6 85 84 83 7 87 86 85 9 90 15 92 20 94

After completing the programs, player 1 hit 5 home runs in his first 4 games; he had never hit a home run previously. Player 2 led the league in home runs and doubles, and increased his batting average from 0.310 the previous year, to 0.600, while player 3 increased his batting average from 0.285 to 0.580.

A sampling of other examples include a 12 year old male player increasing bat speed from 36 to 58 mph, and a female softball player increasing bat speed from 59 to 81 mph.

It has also been found that using the inventive bat increases golf club head speed. Three men had club head speed measured with a radar device before and after a strengthening program using the inventive weighted bat. The results arc averages of 10 swings of their driver. The program consisted of swinging a 35″, 56 Oz. inventive weighted bat 50 times per day for 3 weeks. Results (in miles per hour) are shown in Table 2 below: TABLE 2 Player number Speed before program Speed after program 1 89.9 100 2 101.3 114 3 68 81

Since certain changes that would be apparent to one skilled in the art may be made in the above described embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and not a limiting sense. 

1. A warm-up bat, comprising: a handle; a tube fixed to one end of the handle and defining an internal cavity; a volume of flowable material in the cavity; and a mechanical assembly located in the cavity and adapted to maintain the material in the cavity, the mechanical assembly comprising a compressed resilient member.
 2. The warm-up bat of claim 1 in which the handle is the handle of a bat with some or all of the barrel removed.
 3. The warm-up bat of claim 1 in which the tube is a hollow cylinder.
 4. The warm-up bat of claim 3 in which an inside diameter of the tube is slightly greater than an outside diameter of the handle.
 5. The warm-up bat of claim 4 in which the tube partially overlaps the handle and is secured to the handle.
 6. The warm-up bat of claim 4 in which the tube is made of plastic.
 7. The warm-up bat of claim 4 in which in which the tube is open at both ends.
 8. The warm-up bat of claim 7 in which the overlapping handle portion closes one end of the tube.
 9. The warm-up bat of claim 1 in which the flowable material is adjacent to the handle.
 10. The warm-up bat of claim 1 in which the mechanical assembly further comprises a compressible member.
 11. The warm-up bat of claim 10 in which the compressible member is located within the tube adjacent to the flowable material.
 12. The warm-up bat of claim 11 in which the compressible member comprises a plastic foam.
 13. The warm-up bat of claim 11 in which the compressible member is generally cylindrical.
 14. The warm-up bat of claim 13 in which the cylinder is slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube.
 15. The warm-up bat of claim 14 in which the mechanical assembly further comprises a filler member between the compressible member and the resilient member.
 16. The warm-up bat of claim 15 in which the filler member comprises a solid plug that is slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube.
 17. The warm-up bat of claim 16 in which the solid plug is made from wood.
 18. The warm-up bat of claim 16 in which the mechanical assembly further comprises a closure member to close the end of the tube farthest from the handle.
 19. The warm-up bat of claim 18 in which the closure member comprise a solid plug that is slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube.
 20. The warm-up bat of claim 19 in which the closure member is held in place in the tube.
 21. A warm-up bat, comprising: a handle of a bat with some or all of the barrel removed; a plastic open tube fixed to one end of the handle and defining an internal cavity, the inside diameter of the tube being slightly greater than an outside diameter of the handle, the tube partially overlapping the handle and secured to the handle, with the overlapping handle portion closing one end of the tube; a volume of flowable material in the cavity against the handle; and a mechanical assembly located in and filling the remainder of the cavity, and adapted to maintain the material in the cavity, the mechanical assembly comprising: a generally cylindrical compressible member located within the tube adjacent to the flowable material, the cylinder slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube; a solid plug filler member adjacent to the compressible member, the solid plug slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube; a compressed spring adjacent to the solid plug filler; and a solid plug closure member closing the end of the tube farthest from the handle, the closure member slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube, and held in place in the tube.
 22. A warm-up bat, comprising: a handle of a bat with some or all of the barrel removed; a plastic open tube fixed to one end of the handle and defining an internal cavity, the inside diameter of the tube being slightly greater than an outside diameter of the handle, the tube partially overlapping the handle and secured to the handle, with the overlapping handle portion closing one end of the tube; a volume of flowable material in the cavity against the handle; and a mechanical assembly located in the cavity and adapted to maintain the material in the cavity, the mechanical assembly comprising: a generally cylindrical plastic foam compressible member located within the tube adjacent to the flowable material, the cylinder slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube; a solid plug filler member adjacent to the compressible member, the solid plug slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube; a compressed spring adjacent to the solid plug filler; and a solid plug wooden closure member closing the end of the tube farthest from the handle, the closure member slightly smaller in diameter than an inside diameter of the tube, and held in place in the tube. 